Queens’ Best Coffee Roasters and Cafés
With ample space that’s slightly more affordable than New York City, Queens––and in particular Long Island City––has become ground zero for local coffee brands to launch roasting facilities in hip digs just a stone’s throw from the city’s center. While some producers kicked off their production in Queens, and others relocated their facilities there at a later time, the outcome is that the borough offers a number of excellent coffee options, whether one seeks a powerful espresso, a floral single-origin pour-over, or even a festive seasonal elixir. Below, six of Queens top coffee roasters and cafés to seek out.
Long Island City
Photo Credit: Coffee Project New York
What began as a small East Village café in 2015 expanded to a 3,750-square-foot Queens-based roastery, training center, and café (with additional shops in Chelsea and Brooklyn) four years later thanks to the coffee conscious work of partners Chi Sum Ngai and Kaleena Teoh. Over the years, Coffee Project has earned street cred as one of New York’s most exciting roasters, not only pulling perfect espressos and proffering nuanced pour-overs, but also sourcing some of the world’s rarest coffee beans, such as the Gesha varietal that they sell for $12 to $18 per cup. Here, the team carefully sources coffee beans from small, female-owned cooperatives and family farms in places like Ethiopia and Guatemala to build drinks like their most lauded Deconstructed Latte, which comes with a shot of espresso, a bit of milk, a latte, and sparkling water. The idea is to try the components separately to understand their unique flavors before sampling the completed latte. Fun fact: A number of the Coffee Project’s baristas are national Brewers Cup competitors and Latte Art World Championship Open champions.
Long Island City
Photo Credit: Kathryn Sheldon
Founders Amber Jacobsen and Adam Boyd founded Brooklyn-based coffee brand Toby’s Estate in 2012, and after five years they expanded to Long Island City, which marked their fourth location (additional cafés exist in the West Village, Midtown East, and Midtown West). While that name might not sound familiar, that’s because in 2019 Jacobsen and Boyd rebranded their company into Partners Coffee, and since then their coffee outfit has become known for its poppy, eye-catching bags. The team sources sustainably-farmed, micro-lot beans from farmers that embrace organic practices in places like Africa and Latin America, and Partners uses those for myriad drinks, including single-origin espressos pulled on a La Marzocco, plus pour-overs, drips, and cold brew. Fun facts: The Long Island City location offers a tree-studded backyard to recaffeinate. And don’t miss the seasonal special, an espresso mint julep made with espresso, basil-mint syrup, and one’s choice of milk.
Maspeth/Astoria
Photo Credit: For Five Coffee
The largest brew seller on this list, For Five Coffee––which began just five years ago in Times Square––today counts 30 locations spread between New York, Washington D.C., Virginia,
Boston, California, and Chicago. However, beans for all locations are fired in one of the brand’s two roasteries in Queens, and while those do not offer cafés open to the public, For Five does have a standalone brew spot in Astoria. Founders Stephen Vouvoudakis and Tom Tsiplakos source a diverse array of beans with sustainability in mind, offering single-origin coffees, in addition to custom blends. Expect drinks like cold brew, nitro cold brew, and house special The Five, made hot or cold with coffee, espresso, chocolate ganache, orange peel, and half and half.
Long Island City
Photo Credit - Karleah Del Moral
Born and bred Queens native Rich Nieto was one of the first to bring Queens specialty coffee in the name of Sweetleaf, his ethically-sourced bean outlet that debuted in 2008. Since then, he’s opened another two Long Island City outlets, and in 2015 he launched a Greenpoint-based roastery that fires beans for all locations. However, thanks to Sweetleaf’s continued growth, Nieto is about to move his roastery to a larger facility in Long Island City. Drop by any of the four cafés for beans sourced from family-owned farms in Kenya, Guatemala, and Peru, which flavor drinks like Sweetleaf’s signature chilly Rocket Fuel: cold brew concentrate with chicory, maple syrup, and one’s choice of milk.
Long Island City
Photo Credit: Kathryn Sheldon
What began as a small coffee shop almost two decades ago in Greenwich Village today counts 21 locations and a multi-use, 4,000 square-foot Long Island City roastery with a café and lab. Joe Coffee––founded by Jonathan Rubinstein––is one of New York’s very first specialty coffee outfits, and has earned a devout following over the years for its expert brews. Here, beans are ethically sourced primarily from Central America, South America, and Africa, and go into espresso-based drinks, pour-overs, and drips. Fun fact: Every season Joe features one signature drink and right now it’s an Espresso Rose Spritz––an espresso seltzer inspired by the fragrance of coffee blossoms.
Long Island City
With its roastery plus connected cafe planted in Long Island City, local chainlet Birch––which counts more than 10 New York outlets––was founded in 2009 by duo Jeremy Lyman and Q grader Paul Schlader. Think of a Q grader as a sommelier for coffee; someone who is licensed to professionally grade coffee. Thusly, Schlader travels to regions like Brazil and Colombia to oversee all of Birch’s coffee sourcing. Back in Queens, the team roasts their beans to fit specific brew methods, such as cold brew, Chemex, and French press. Come here for simple, straight-forward coffee drinks prepped from quality-minded beans.